Merck and Project Data Sphere to join hands for cancer cure

Merck, a Germany firm is planning to lead a big data alliance which aims to accelerate the development, discovery and delivering new approaches in cancer care.

Alongside the not-for-profit Project Data Sphere, Merck will take the helm of the Global Oncology Big Data Alliance (GOBDA), a three-year project that hopes to better define personalized treatment options and help predict treatment outcomes.

Belén Garijo, Merck’s healthcare CEO, said: “The ultimate goal of our alliance with Project Data Sphere is to unleash the power of big data to bring value to cancer patients.”

Project Data Sphere is a non-profit organization which is founded by former US president George HW Bush in 2001 that supports oncology research.

With the help of GOBDA initiative, the two will work on expanding access to de-identified patient data sets in order to improve analytical capabilities and build a registry of data.

CEO of Project Data Sphere, Dr Martin Murphy said “Big data is changing the face of healthcare as we know it, and advances in our ability to collect data, share and analyze it has already led to ground-breaking work.”

“The joint force of Merck and Project Data Sphere will aim to connect and empower a truly global oncology community with these big data and analytical capabilities. We are excited about the Global Oncology Big Data Alliance initiative and the continuing engagement of a diverse community focused on finding solutions for cancer patients,” he added